Straw Man
by Elena George
Summary: I don't like loose ends any more than Sharon does - this one picks up where I left off in "The Fury of Roslyn." Short chapter today. Please read and review. Thanks! NOW COMPLETED!
1. Chapter 1

Straw Man

 **A/N: Picks up where "The Fury of Roslyn" left off. "The Fury of Roslyn" follows "My Achy-Breaky Heart."**

Sharon stretched herself out on a big white wooden Adirondack chair. Her feet were propped up as she luxuriated in the spring sunshine of midday. She watched her husband Andy cast his line into the lake repeatedly from the dock in back of the cabin they were enjoying on their honeymoon. She took a sip of the tea that stood in a glass on the table next to her. She knew that in a few hours, Andy would have caught fish for supper tonight and breakfast tomorrow. He had already caught two modest ones that swam around in the tank at the end of the dock.

She picked up her book and flipped to the page where she'd left off yesterday. Late April in northern New York was still chilly if the wind caught you. However, the sun was delightfully warm, inviting cat naps in the lee of a barn or farmhouse. The cobblestone cottage by the lake was perfectly situated to provide both a windbreak and sunbeams. Sharon found the climate a little cooler than her normal Los Angeles, but it was a welcome break. Big cumulus clouds passed randomly in the spring sky every so often. However, the best part of it all was having Andy all to herself. His heart issues were under medical control. His blood pressure had been more than fine since they had arrived and unpacked. Nothing in the world was causing them the slightest distress. This was a honeymoon that was a dream.

Andy cast his line off the dock again. He had reeled in another fish and dumped it into the tank with the others. He teased the rod and sat down on the chair he'd dragged to the dock. He glanced over at his wife and waved. Her loving smile was his instant reward. This was a simply perfect week - away from the Los Angeles traffic, away from criminals, away from stress, away from idiots and dirtbags, and even away from his best pal, Provenza. Here he was alone at last with his Sharon. Jack had died from a massive coronary slightly more than six months ago, so now, at long last Sharon was all his and his alone. He again turned his attention to catching supper for them.

A few hours later and after sorting through the fish he'd caught, releasing the smaller ones, Andy took the pan-sized ones to the cottage. He found Sharon catnapping in the sun, her book lying across her chest, the brim of her hat slouched over her face. He could not help himself but smile. Andy cleaned the fish and tucked them into the fridge.

He popped his head back out to see if Sharon had awakened. No, she was still sleeping peacefully. He set the table and rummaged through the fridge for something to go with the fish he would soon prepare. Sharon had gotten a sack of wild and long grain rice, some carrots, fresh green beans, and cauliflower at the market before they had arrived. She also picked up a Tupper Lake Outfitters calendar for the fridge door while he got his fishing license taken care of.

He began the rice then looked about for utensils he'd need. The knife in the rack was as dull as a butter knife. It took a few more drawers opened, inspected, and shut before Andy found the knife sharpener. Once he got his paring knife the way he liked it, his hands made fast work of the vegetables. He found and cleaned the skillet and a wok under the sink. Andy figured they were the first guests of the season up here. Before he began to cook anything, he made another pass outside.

"Sweetheart," he moved the brim back and gave her a gentle kiss, "I'm getting ready to fix supper."

Bleary green eyes looked back up at him, "What time is it, Andy?"

"It's about half past five," Andy said softly. "You wanted to enjoy the sunset this evening around 7:30. I thought we'd eat first."

Sharon stretched herself before climbing back out of the chair. She took the book back inside as she made for the lavatory behind the kitchen. Andy started the rest of food. He sautéed the veggies in the wok while carefully watching the fish gently fry in the skillet. He had chosen several spices to add flavor to the mild white fish and vegetable medley. Sharon strolled back in and gave a sniff.

She hummed low and soft, "Smells good! I'm so glad I married a man who can cook," she teased him as she swiftly rubbed her palm across his back.

He stretched his neck around to give her a peck on the cheek, "I cook; you clean."

"Deal!" she exclaimed.

When the fish was done, Andy zipped the bones out and placed the halves on plates decorated with crunchy color on a bed of rice. He poured Sharon a glass of wine and emptied the mineral water into his glass.

"Your table awaits, my Dear," he beaconed her.

Just as she was about to sit, Andy drew her close to himself, "Life's uncertain, eat dessert first," he kissed her tenderly.

Oh how she adored this man.

True to her word, after supper, she busied herself in the kitchen cleaning the dishes and two pans. She was pleased that Andy had not dirtied everything in the kitchen as Rusty had his first time making supper for them years ago. Once the dishes were in the drainer and pans wiped dry and placed back in their places, the couple was ready to enjoy the anticipated sunset on the lake.

Andy wrapped Sharon in a large sweater. Together they walked to the end of the dock and enjoyed the sunset and snuggling in each other's arms. Their legs dangled over the edge of the dock just a few inches above the water. It was far too cold to swim.

Swimming in Tupper Lake was generally not something anyone wanted to do until some time in July and August. The water in spring was 40-something. It seldom reached into the mid-70s at any time in the year. So as much as they might have wanted to swim, it was the wrong season for that activity. They would though take the canoe out a few times. Mostly, they confined themselves to the cabin and yard.

Since the cabin was a seasonal one rather than year round, fireplaces were the sole source of heat on chilly nights. This night was no different. Sharon had discovered long ago that a paper grocery sack pulled inside out made an excellent fire starter. Andy brought in some smaller logs as she prepared the fire's bed. One match, one fire, several quilts.

Andy held his wife close to his heart. He knew all too well that if allowed to sleep on her back, snoring would commence around four in the morning. It was better for all if he held Sharon on her side, close to his own. It also served to keep his snoring to a minimum. Furthermore, the position curtailed Sharon's becoming the blanket spool, leaving Andy out in the cold night air.

Commander Sharon Raydor decided to keep the "Raydor" name to tamp down any uncertainty over which person was the intended recipient of a request. Besides, she had been an LAPD officer named "Raydor" for decades, so why mess with what worked?

Andy was just fine with that, so when the name "Flynn!" was called out at a crime scene or in the Murder Room, he knew to respond while "Raydor" left it alone. Socially, Sharon was more than happy to be addressed as Mrs. Andy Flynn. All the children were equally pleased by her adoption of "Flynn" for off-duty and the retention of "Raydor" for on-duty. Moreover, this served to keep their two worlds from colliding.

For Louie Provenza's part, he was overjoyed to be promoted to Captain but had a hard time transitioning to the title for himself. Amy amused herself by calling out "Captain" only to see Provenza's head pop up from his crossword puzzle looking for Sharon Raydor. He would scowl and grumble something unpleasant at her then get back to what he'd been doing. Julio also quietly enjoyed the running joke. The new nameplates had come in while the Flynns were on their honeymoon.

The team had assembled on time, sweet rolls and caffeine all in hand, to discuss a cold case since there was no fresh case at the moment.

Provenza selected one in which a child had been kidnapped but never found. Her mother had reported her missing after school nearly ten years ago. Alive, Cynthia Miller would be a sweet sixteen now.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A soft knock rapped itself out on Sharon's door. Her head popped up from the old Cynthia Miller case files she was pouring over in the living room. She glanced at her watch - 9:35 - read the dial. She furrowed her brow slightly.

Rusty was not due back from the library at UCLA for another hour or so; besides, he had keys. He was now a sophomore at UCLA in Communications and doing a superb job in his studies as well as in growing toward stable adulthood. Andy was watching Nicole's kids for the night so those newlyweds could have a "date night" for themselves. They were "in town" tonight.

The knock sounded again with slightly more persistence. Sharon rose and walked over to the door. Looking through the peep hole, she saw a man slouched up against her doorjamb. He looked as if he might be injured. She opened the door.

With surprising speed, Sharon found herself on the opposite wall and Phillip Stroh at her throat. Less than a minute, blood shut off to her brain, Sharon went out cold. He had not strangled her; rather, he pressed hard against her carotid arteries on either side of her neck. She had tried to fight back, scratching his face and kicking at his knees. It was to no avail. He was larger and stronger. Stroh let her body fall to the floor at his feet.

Stroh looked around the condo. He found her desk chair to be most suitable. He brought it around the corner and into the foyer where Sharon's body lay, sprawled out on the tile. Her service weapon and shield sat on the desk where she'd placed them when she had gotten home hours ago. Stroh placed her body in her chair. He bound her wrists to the arms and her ankles to the legs. Then he waited for her to recover. He pulled a dining chair around to sit behind her as he waited.

Her eyes were closed, but her mind was very much awake. Sharon listened carefully to her surroundings before opening an eye. Her head was pounding from the lack of oxygen she'd suffered when Stroh had rendered her unconscious. Her arms were secured, head bowed. Her hair formed a curtain around her face enabling her to look around without being clearly observed. Hearing nothing, she eased her eyes open. She was in the foyer but that was all she could see at first. When nothing appeared in her peripheral vision, she slowly brought her head up to look around for her assailant.

"Awake now, I see," menaced Stroh from behind her. "Took you long enough."

"What do you want?" she replied without turning toward him.

"The kid, of course," he coolly responded. "I'm going to rape you then kill you, the kid, and Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. Then I'm leaving for parts unknown. The three of you have caused me plenty of trouble. And what do you do with trouble? You get rid of it like witnesses," he chuckled.

"I'm afraid I'm all you've got," replied Sharon coolly.

"I can wait," Stroh retorted. "I hear you adopted Rusty. Is that true?"

He looked at the ring set on her hand, "Got married again? Who's the unlucky guy?"

Sharon refused to answer. Stroh snatched her by the hair, pulling her chin upward, and moved within an inch of her. He just glared into her eyes. She could handle that. Sharon used to play "blink" with her kids when they were little. Life in IA was a big game of "blink" when you got right down to it. As they stared angrily at each other, Sharon took stock of her position and what she could do to keep Stroh from harming Rusty when he got home.

Stroh broke eye contact and slapped Sharon across the face. It was loud enough to be heard in the hallway had anyone been at the door. She cried out in pain.

At the sound of her cry, Rusty popped out of his room, bleary-eyed, "Mom?"

Sharon's eyes widened, her pupils dilated with fear for her son, "Rusty, run! It's Stroh!"

Nothing had prepared her for Rusty's appearance.

He heard none of Sharon's warning and came down the hallway, "Are you okay? Mom?"

His eyes met Stroh's, freezing both where they stood for half a heartbeat. Her words of forewarning finally hit his brain. Rusty took off toward Sharon and Andy's bedroom. Stroh was in hot pursuit, bouncing off the wall in the hallway. Rusty dove over the bed toward the nightstand.

Sharon yanked as hard as she could on her bindings. Doing so practically dislocated her shoulder in one last great effort to free herself and protect her son. Instead, she upset the chair and found herself on her side on the floor. She inched toward the wall and tried pounding the chair against it. She got her legs free when the chair stretcher gave way to her slamming it into the steel door.

The sound of a gun went off in the bedroom.

"Rusty!" Sharon screamed and slammed the chair into the door again.

The gun went off again and again until it went silent.

Sharon was on her knees doing her best to destroy the rest of the chair in order to free at least one hand.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"It's okay, Mom," Rusty sounded sure of himself. "It's over. Stroh is dead."

Rusty rejoined her in the foyer of the condo. He helped unbind Sharon's hands and helped her to her feet. They stood there holding tightly to each other for some time before a new pounding on the front door interrupted. Rusty kicked what remained of the chair out of the way and opened the door.

A large patrolman stood on the other side of the door, hand on his pistol.

"Come in. I'm Commander Sharon Raydor," began Sharon as she reached for her shield.

Reaching behind her gave her quick pause to realize just what she had done to that shoulder.

The patrolman took in the sight of splintered chair, pistol grip sticking out of Rusty's pocket, "What happened here?"

"Moby Dick," both Sharon and Rusty said in unison. They each took a deep breath and brought the patrolman inside.

"You will need to call Kendall, um, the Coroner. I will call out Major Crimes. Just stand by for the moment," she directed him to take a seat.

She found her phone and called Andy, "Andy, Honey. I love you," she reassured them both. "I want you to know that Rusty and I are fine. Really. I want you to stay with the kids until Nicole comes home..."

"Sharon? What's going on," Andy sounded deeply concerned.

"Phillip Stroh ran into some bullets tonight. In our condo. How many bullets remains to be determined when Dr. Morales digs them all out. I'm going to call Captain Provenza and the team and SID to process the scene," Sharon outlined. "Officer Gilley is here with us now."

"My place is with you," Andy protested.

"Yes, it is," Sharon added, "but this is NO place for grandchildren. Our condo is a crime scene and quite a mess."

Andy was quiet, knowing that she was correct. There was nothing for him to do at the moment, "All right. As soon as the kids get home, I'm on my way. I love you!"

"This way, please," she directed Officer Gilley as she unconsciously rubbed her shoulder then her swollen wrists.

Gilley bent down and found no pulse on Stroh, "He's done."

Next she dialed Provenza, "Captain, I need you to gather the team and bring them to the condo. There has been a shooting here. Rusty and I are fine. Andy is watching his grandchildren, so leave him be for the moment. You will need SID and the coroner. I have Officer Gilley here with us now."

"Well, what the hell happened, Commander?"

"Phillip Stroh dropped by and got himself killed for his trouble. He was going after me when Rusty came out of his room and used my back up weapon when Stroh tried to kill him. We'll talk about it when you get here," Sharon rubbed her wrists which were also starting to ache. "Just get here as soon as you can, please."

"Can we celebrate?" Provenza snarked.

"Not yet. That would not look good," Sharon rejoined. "I'm keeping that in check myself. Maybe later, okay. I'll call Brenda tomorrow."

Sharon went into the kitchen and fetched a gallon-sized ziplock bag, "Rusty, I need you to put the pistol in here, please. Drop the magazine, rack the slide, now put it all inside. Thank you."

The magazine was empty as was the chamber. She marked it accordingly and gave it to Officer Gilley. She sat down next to Rusty on the couch and leaned into her hands, running them through her hair. Bruises and swelling were starting to show where she had fought the restraints. She felt welts rising on her face where she'd been struck.

"Mom," Rusty put his arm around her, "would you like me to get you some Tylenol?"

She gently shook her head, "No, Honey. It's a crime scene right now. We can't go back there until Captain Provenza and the team arrives. Right now, we are simply observers."

"Not using the word 'witness,'" Rusty smirked to her growing grin.

She leaned into the young man, "You know I love you."

"Love you, too, Mom," he nodded. He snickered a little, "This time, I got to save you."

She turned to him and gave him a sad smile, "Yes, you did," she swept her hand across his face and hugged him a little tighter.

He got up and pulled out an ice pack from the freezer for her wrists, "Trust me about bruises," he grinned.

Provenza knocked, "Lights and sirens. And not much traffic tonight, Commander."

Provenza produced his shield for Officer Gilley. Then he looked around at the smashed chair, the ice pack on his Commander's face, and other things tossed around the condo and shook his head.

"Where?"

"This way," Sharon stood and motioned Rusty to stay put.

"You go?" Provenza wanted Gilley's information.

Gilley nodded tersely, "Yes sir. Nothing to be done. Guy's dead back there, so I stayed with the Commander and her son."

Phillip Stroh's body lay in a large pool of blood near the foot of the bed. Provenza moved past the body and looked at the nightstand.

"Had the gun in here?"

Sharon nodded, "My back up weapon."

Gilley handed the gun in the ziplock bag to Provenza.

Provenza turned around and looked at the wall, "Look like he made all the shots count," he said with authority. The he added with pride, "Taught the kid everything I know."

"When in doubt, empty the magazine," Rusty chimed in.

They looked in his direction. Sharon motioned for him to return to the couch.

"Julio and Amy are here. Lt Mike is on the way up with Buzz," Rusty reported.

The group moved back into the living room.

"Buzz," Provenza spoke to him as the videographer entered. "First thing, take close-ups of the Commander's injuries - face, wrists, etc. Then come with me and film the body and bedroom where the scumbag, I mean victim, met his Maker."

Amy drew closer to Sharon, examining the rising welts on her face, "Are you okay, Ma'am?"

Sharon nodded, "Just a little shaky now that things have calmed down a bit."

She turned to address Rusty, "Okay, Buster, you were supposed to be at the library tonight."

"Yeah, but I got home early from class. The professor let us out to prepare for the exam. I got home and fell asleep," Rusty explained with a chuckle. "Good thing for you that I did, too."

She smiled lovingly at the young man and stroked his face.

"I just hope the professor will give me a make-up, 'cause all my books are now part of a crime scene," he laughed.

Andy came racing through the door, finding his wife, he held her for dear life. He brushed her hair back and with worried eyes inventoried her darkening bruises before pulling her back into this chest. "Hospital to get you checked out," Andy said as much to reassure himself as to Sharon.

Julio tapped Rusty on the shoulder and motioned toward the balcony, "Feel like giving us a statement yet?"

Rusty nodded and followed Julio and Mike outside. The SID team crawled over the scene bagging and tagging evidence. Kendall gave his preliminary findings to Provenza and removed the body. Taking Julio with him, Captain Provenza would meet Dr. Morales tomorrow to get the autopsy results. He would double check Rusty's "grouping."

By 3 a.m., the scene had been preliminarily processed. Crime scene tape would remain for a day or two until the scene was finally released. Andy gathered his family, had Sharon seen at the ER, and finally took them to a hotel downtown for much needed showers and shuteye. Chief Howard gave them paid administrative leave even though neither had fired a weapon. It would give them time to mentally process what had transpired as well as begin to clean up the mess left in the wake of the attack. Rusty could visit with Dr. Joe Bowman later in the week, closing the case with a sense of finality at long last.

And in Washington DC, Brenda threw a large party and toasted her friend Captain, uh, Commander, uh, Raydor, uh, ...Sharon. Oh...Whatever.

 **A/N: For those unfamiliar with German, "stroh" is German for "straw." I just could not resist the little wordplay.**


End file.
